The Cat that sings
by Koko-chan1
Summary: Kyo needs to hide from Akito to keep his freedom. To do so, he needs a good disguise... HaruKyo R for later chapters
1. Prologue

Another story out of my insane mind. I hope everyone likes this. There's going to be Haru/Kyo pairing in later chapters.

The Cat that sings - Prologue

Consider the cat: a creature of great agility, grace, intelligence, and pride. But beyond those, the things that a cat is most noted for is its eminent practicality and overwhelming sense of independence. It sees common sense as a means of survival and freedom as its right, and pride is a coveted and much valued possession. However, to a cat, pride is only an object, and will be discarded if the situation demands it. If freedom—both of body and of will—are threatened, a cat will not hesitate to throw away pride in favor of practicality, and it will run from the situation that threatens it so.  
Staying to be caged is a brand of pride that means nothing but foolishness to a feline. A cat will allow a human to serve it, and will return that service with affection and even love, but it will never serve anyone but itself. That is again a human trait, and one that a cat finds a waste of time and energy. If a human wants an animal it can enslave, it should go find a dog, for a cat will not be held if it does not wish it.  
Sohma Kyo was the Cat, outcast of the zodiac as named by the rest of his cursed family. He, out of any of the other Juunishi, was most closely entwined and connected with the spirit that lived inside of him. Forced into isolation, the spirit of the cat was his one and only solace, and as the human boy grew, the animal spirit did as well, until they were truly one and the same. As a result, Kyo had a very catly outlook on life, and it showed in many of his mannerisms. He was intensely graceful, his young body growing to be lithe and muscular with the help of intense martial arts training. He was solitary, preferring to only have a select few people as companions and disdaining of crowds. He loved to bask in the sun and could sleep anywhere, and he hated the rain or being wet. He had the intense sense of smell all cats share and the ability to always land on his feet. Though none of his family knew it, he had the weakness for a gentle touch that all felines do, and the capacity to be very affectionate to those who he trusted. But since people of that nature were extremely few in number, Kyo would hide those vulnerabilities behind anger, just as a cat will bluff with a show of hostility to hide a wound. While catnip only worked on his cat form, it gave him a nice buzz as a human.  
However, Kyo was still human, and had human instincts as well. He understood what drove human beings. He could comprehend the complexities and inconsistencies that made up human nature and caused them to act the way they did. He understood the human views of pride and honor that would keep a man in a doomed situation. He continued fighting with Yuki, despite the fact that he had long since admitted to himself that he would never defeat the other boy. Pride compelled him to keep trying instead of admitting defeat. Pride—and desperation—had been what had compelled him to make a deal with the clan head. If he defeated his cousin Yuki, the Rat, in combat before he graduated, Akito would allow him to live the rest of his life in freedom instead of being locked away in the tiny prison on the edge of the family's lands, as all the Cats before had been confined. At the time, Kyo had believed he could do it, but as the deadline drew close, reality reared its ugly head, and the young Cat knew he would lose the bet. Human pride and human honor demanded that Kyo should live up to his side of the bargain and allow himself to be locked away.  
However, Kyo was not entirely human, and unlike the rest of his family, he believed in listening to the instincts of his other form. The cat within recognized the threat to freedom, and urged Kyo to flee, for pride and honor were worthless if one was locked away in a cage. The human side argued that freedom was worthless if life could not be lived with pride and honor.  
Kyo spent weeks deliberating on this matter, and was subject to many headaches.  
It was finally common sense, the trait shared both by cats and humans, that solved the disagreement by pointing out that both pride and honor could be rebuilt, but freedom could not. Decision made and conclusion reached, Kyo left that very night, running from the family he both loved and hated. He planned to never return; as a cat will never return to a house it leaves. But before he left, he did a very human thing and snuck into the main house, where he picked the lock to the family's cash box and stole everything down to the last yen from inside it. Kazuma hadn't been the only one teaching him interesting things as he'd grown up.  
He knew that Akito would not leave it at that. Akito was insane, and he hated Kyo with a vengeance. Kyo knew Akito would order the family to hunt him down and make him return to be locked away. Kyo also suspected that, once he was out of everyone's' line of sight, Akito would order him killed. No one defied the clan head as he was doing and could be left alive.  
As the Cat, Kyo knew he'd have to run as far away as he could.  
As the human, Kyo knew he was limited to Japan, since he didn't have a passport, and the only way to get one would involve contacting his family. Bad idea.  
As the Cat, Kyo knew that once he had stopped running, he would have to hide, and hide well.  
As a human, Kyo knew that not only would he have to find a place where his sunset-hued hair and crimson eyes fit in, but that he would have to disguise himself in such a way that his family would never recognize or even guess at.  
As a Cat, Kyo knew that wherever he stopped would have to have water, food, and shelter.  
As a human, Kyo knew that he'd have to find work in his new home, and that it would have to be as both something and someone that would not gain attention outside a very small radius.  
However, both the Cat and human traits of Kyo's personality also demanded that he be watched and admired by others, which was fairly counter- productive to what he needed to do, but he didn't much care. Even if it was at a distance, Kyo knew himself well enough to know he needed at least some human contact to keep sane.  
In time, he found the answer to all of that.  
This is the story of the Cat that sings.


	2. Setting out

Part 1

Kyo wondered, and not for the first time that day, if he was insane and just hadn't figured it out up until now. It would certainly explain why he was sitting in Uotani's tiny matchbox of an apartment, watching her puzzle through his admittedly unusual request while she sprawled on the couch. Kyo was not sprawling anywhere. He was too anxious, and instead was sitting ramrod straight in the chair opposite her. He was very uncomfortable with asking her for help. But dammit, he hadn't known anywhere else to go! He needed advice, and this certainly wasn't something he'd ask Tohru about. And he DEFINITELY wasn't going to go ask Hanajima! That girl was damn scary. Kyo had never met an UberGoth before her, and he personally never hoped to meet one ever again.  
Not that the Yankee in front of him didn't have her own issues, but at least the two of them usually understood each other on some level.  
"So lemme get this straight," Uo finally said, spearing him with a look that was a mix between amused and annoyed. The annoyance was most likely from the fact that Kyo had shown up suddenly at her door at seven in the morning, carrying a tiny duffel, and demanded to be let in. "The head of your family wants to force you into an arranged marriage with someone, and you're not willing."  
Kyo nodded, letting Uo work her way through the story he had given her. He had stuck pretty much as close to the truth as he could manage, but how does one explain curses and animal transformations without actually SAYING anything about curses and animal transformations?!  
"You struck up a deal with this guy, betting that if you could beat Prince Yuki in a fight by the time you graduated, you wouldn't have to marry anyone. But if you couldn't do it, you'd shut up and get married to whoever this guy chose for you."  
Kyo nodded again.  
"But now you've come to the conclusion, two weeks before graduation, that you're never going to be able to bust the Prince's pretty nose, so you need to disappear."  
The redhead nodded a third time. "Call it weak or cowardly, I don't care. I can't beat Yuki, and I'm not about to sacrifice my freedom just because Akito wants to make my life miserable. I'd rather dump my pride than be chained down and locked in some dark hole for the rest of my life."  
Uo raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you exaggerating just a little? Marriage isn't the end of the world."  
"It is if you've seen what Akito wants to chain me to. And I'm NOT going to let the damn bastard run my life!"  
The blonde girl grinned and sat up, running a hand through her hair to keep it out of her face. "Good. I'd be worried if you'd just decided to knuckle under, Kyon-chan."  
"Don't call me that!!!"  
"I'll call you whatever I please, Carrot Top. You're the one coming to me for help. Now, exactly what do you need from me?"  
Kyo sighed, glad to just get to the heart of the matter. "I've got to leave. If I stay, I'll just be forced to do what Akito says. But I've got to find some place where my looks are going to blend in, and it can't be out of the country. I don't have a passport. The Head hates my guts and forbade my ever getting one. Not only that, but I've got to disguise myself in some way that my family will never recognize me once they start searching. I've already worked that out, but I still need a place to go. I figured you'd know some possible destinations."  
"Why's that?"  
Kyo gave Uo a Look, pointedly glancing at her hair and eyes. "Because if you're not at least half gaijin, Yankee, then I'm Yuki's biggest fangirl in disguise."  
"Wow! I never would have guessed! There really IS a fine line between love and hate!" Uo exclaimed in mock-surprise.  
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny. My sides are just bursting from pent-up laughter." Kyo replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  
The Yankee chuckled. "Tell ya what, Kyon-chan. You get me a cup of coffee from the pot over there, and I'll help you out."  
"I said don't call me—you will?"  
Uo nodded, her expression slipping to something more serious. "I don't like seeing pals of mine forced into situations that would make them miserable. And you're not the first person I've known who's had to skip town for one reason or another. But I don't think clearly without my morning dose of caffeine, so GET ME THAT COFFEE!!!"  
Kyo scrambled to do as ordered. Something about the way Uotani's eyes had taken on a maddened gleam with that command made him very nervous. "Damn, you're scary before coffee," he muttered as he handed her the hot java. "Remind me to keep my own addictions simple."  
"Like what?" Uo asked, taking a long sip.  
"I dunno, air, water...that sort of thing. Definitely not that disgusting sludge, though. Evil brown brew of death."  
"Keep knocking my coffee, and you'll never get any help out of me, tangerine head." Uo growled, giving a mild glare.  
Kyo growled back, but shut up. He needed her help to pull this off. "Fine. So where should I go?"  
"Hm. I've got a friend who lives up in Hokkaido. There's a lot of gaijin tourist traffic there, and a sizeable district filled with foreign immigrants. It's my hometown. No one's going to notice another redhead showing up there, and Bess could get you settled in easy." The blonde gave a slight chuckle at the face Kyo made at the sound of the female name. "Relax, Kyon-chan, I rather doubt she'd be interested in your scrawny girl- shy ass. Bess is a lesbian, and finds the idea of sleeping with anything male so ridiculous that even the sight of a dick makes her crack up into helpless laughter."  
The neko blinked, then blushed. "That was way over the TMI limit, Yankee." But it did reassure him. The last thing he needed was some crazed female trying to glomp him like the ones in school seemed obsessed with doing.  
Uotani shrugged. "True, though. So what else are you planning? You said you were going to disguise yourself. How?"  
Kyo suddenly went bright red and looked down at his hands, which lay fisted in his lap. ".........."  
The blonde blinked. "What was that?"  
If anything, Kyo went even redder and muttered something, a little louder but still unintelligible.  
Uo rolled her eyes. "Kyo, if I have to beat the information out of you, I will." she threatened, taking a sip of her coffee.  
"I SAID I'M GOING TO BECOME A GIRL!" Kyo burst out, the blush spreading from his face to the rest of his body in humiliation. He was distracted from that, however, in the sudden need to dodge the spray of coffee as Uo choked and spat it out in utter shock.  
"You?!" she gasped, "A GIRL?! Oh dear lord..." She started howling with laughter.  
"What?!" Kyo demanded, scowling. "It's the one thing my family would never expect me to do! They'll never think to look for that!"  
"I know!" Uotani gasped between giggles, "I agree with you! But GODS, just the thought of you with breasts and a little skirt, sitting pretty in a salon somewhere and reading girly magazines..." She fell off the sofa, she was laughing so hard.  
"Who says I'll read girly magazines or wear skirts? You don't, unless you have to." Kyo replied sulkily.  
Uo forced her laughter back under control and gave the redhead as serious a look as she could manage. "You'd better. If you wanna become a girl, Kyo, you're going to have to learn everything you can about it. That means reading girls' and womens' magazines, learning how to wear skirts, learning about fashion, and etiquette, knowing what society expects of women today..."  
Kyo blinked. "Why? You don't care about any of those things, and nobody accuses you of being a boy. Well, not seriously, anyway."  
"Because I already KNOW all that stuff, Kyon-chan. It's stuffed down every girl's throat from the day she's born. I just ignore it all. But for you to break the rules, you're going to have to know the rules backwards and forwards first. That means learning everything you can about women, and fast. Hells, you'll even have to relearn how to walk!"  
Kyo blanched, but looked stubborn. Becoming a woman would be the only way to slip out from under his family's gaze, and he knew it. Freedom was worth any stab to his dignity. "So what do I do?"  
The blonde girl raised an eyebrow. "Damn, you're really serious, aren't you? Well, start with reading those girly magazines. They make no sense, but there's some useful information in them. Also, watch women closely, and learn that way. How they act, how they move, how they talk."  
Kyo nodded. "I'll definitely have time for that, I guess."  
"Huh? How so?"  
"I'm gonna be walking to Hokkaido."  
"WALKING?!"  
"Buying a ticket for the train or bus would leave a trail. If I walk, it'll make me that much harder to find. Especially if I stick to the woods until I get out of the local area. It's going to take me weeks to get up there, but I'll have the time to study up."  
The Yankee nodded, seeing the sense in that. "Fine. And it'll give you some time to grow out that orange mane of yours, too. Most girls don't wear their hair that short. You might want to consider getting contacts, though. The red hair will be common enough up there, but red eyes aren't common anywhere. And once you reach Hokkaido, Bess can help you polish your act." She suddenly snickered again.  
"What are you laughing at now?!" Kyo growled.  
"I just realized, you're going to have to learn about makeup! And shoes with HEELS! Not to mention practicing to change your voice to something more feminine! Man, I would so give anything to be able to see all that! Maybe I'll ask Bess to send me pictures..."  
"NO!" Kyo burst out, horrified.  
The violence of the outburst caused Uo to stop laughing and stare at him. Kyo flushed slightly and bit his lip.  
"Look, my family's going to search for me everywhere as it is. And I know they'll ask you, since you're connected to me through Tohru. Having pictures of me in drag wouldn't help me hide. You have to promise not to tell anyone about this. Not even Tohru."  
Uo narrowed her eyes. "She's going to be worried sick about you, just vanishing into thin air like this. Not to mention your closer relatives. From the bag you're carrying, I'm assuming you're going to leave town as soon as you're done here."  
Kyo sighed. "I've already left a note for Tohru in my room, explaining why I left. She'll worry anyway, but at least she'll know it wasn't anything she did. As for the rest of my family, none of them really gave a shit about me anyway. I doubt anyone will really care, except Akito."  
"What about the blonde kid and the cowboy? Momiji and Haru?"  
An image of a certain ox flashed through Kyo's mind, but he stuffed it down. The Cat had never dared to confess his feelings to Hatsuharu, and there was no chance he would ever be able to, now. Besides, Haru was in love with Yuki, and probably would only miss having a convenient sparring partner. "They'll probably forget all about me. Really, I'm not all that close to anyone. And that damn Yuki will probably be glad to not have to deal with me anymore."  
Uo sighed, but nodded. "Fine, fine. I'm not sure I agree, but I promise to keep my mouth shut." She stood and walked over to her desk, pulling out a scrap of paper and writing something down on it. Then she handed it to Kyo. "This is Bess's address and phone number, for when you get to Hokkaido. I also wrote down her full name, in case you ever need it."  
Kyo nodded and glanced at the paper. "Elizabeth Howard?"  
"Sharrup. I'm sure that Sohma Kyo sounds just as silly to an American. Just don't call her by her full name if you can help it. She'll hit you if you do."  
"Joy. Another violent woman. Between you, Kagura, Hanajima, and her, I don't know how most men dare to date." Kyo muttered.  
"Bess doesn't care about men anyway."  
Kyo rolled his eyes. "Oh. Right." He stuffed the address into his pocket and stood. "I should get going. It won't be too long before Akito finds out that I've run for it, and I need the head start."  
Uo got up as well, walking him to her door. "I'll phone Bess and tell her to expect you in a few weeks." The corner of her lips quirked up in a slight smirk. "Should I describe you with or without a water bra?"  
Kyo bristled, but forced himself to keep a lid on his temper. It was a good question, and he gave it a moment's thought before answering. "With," he sighed. "That's one bit of insanity I'd rather do alone."  
Uo nodded and opened the door for Kyo, giving him an encouraging slap on the back. "Good luck, Kyon-chan."  
Kyo nodded and shouldered his duffel. "Thanks, Yankee." He gave her a small fanged grin. "Take care of Tohru for me, okay?"  
The blonde girl grinned. "You need to ask? Just take care of yourself, idiot. If I hear that you've been dragged back and married to some old crone, I'm going to come kick your ass."  
"As if you could." Kyo replied, his grin getting wider. As he turned and headed out of the apartment building, he was startled to realize that he was going to miss the damn Yankee.  
Kyo stepped outside and began his journey towards freedom.


	3. The search is on! Er, sorta

Woo! Another chapter finally makes its appearance! This one focuses on the rest of the Sohma family instead of Kyo. I hope everyone enjoys it. And remember to leave reviews!

Sohma Hatsuharu took a deep breath and attempted to slow the rapid beating of his heart as he approached Shigure's house. He was anxious, but determined. This was it, the morning where he'd gather up his courage and do what Yuki had been urging him to do for the last several months.  
Today, he was going to confess his feelings for a certain redheaded cat. And given Kyo's temper when it came to surprises of that nature, Haru felt he had more than enough right to be nervous. After all, Kyo was a very extreme person by nature, and after his life with the Sohma family, he had a very negative view of most personal attachments. Finding out that Haru loved him was more than likely to result in a violent reaction.  
_Not surprising_, Haru thought to himself, _considering all the shit the family's put him through. All this stuff about the Cat being cursed and Akito making his life miserable because of his alternate form would have driven _me_ insane, that's for sure.  
_ Haru was different, though. He'd considered Kyo a close personal friend ever since they had trained together when they were five. Hells, he'd been half in love with him for just as long, though he hadn't recognized it as such at the time. And he was sure Kyo had felt the same, in his own shy way, until the ox had suddenly fallen head over heels for Yuki and started following him around so obviously. Thinking back on it, the bicolored teen knew he'd made a mistake by being so single-minded. His eyes had been so fixed on Yuki that he'd forgotten about the cat, and by the time the fascination with the mouse had faded enough to think straight again, Kyo had shut him out of an already harshly guarded heart.  
So to bury the hurt from that silent rejection, Haru had continued to set his sights on Yuki, and later Rin. Both of which were disastrous in their own ways. Especially Rin. Yuki had just been endlessly annoyed with Haru, gently but firmly rebuffing his feelings. Rin had actually accepted, and gotten hurt by Akito for it. Neither were scenarios Haru cared to repeat.  
And under all that, his affection for Kyo remained; so much a part of him that Haru hadn't even realized it until recently. It had resulted in several weeks of soul-searching and acting like a zombie in public, his mind often far too deep within his own heart to keep up with simple day-to- day occurrences. And he'd come up with some surprising answers.  
Answers that he'd eventually shared with Yuki, in the hopes that the silver-haired boy would have some idea of what to do. For all that the mouse and cat fought like mad, nobody understood Kyo better than Yuki did on the primal level. Not that Yuki had any more insight into how to catch the redhead's interest than Haru himself did, but it was someone to talk to.  
But all Yuki could suggest was to tell Kyo directly about his feelings, citing the cat's admiration for blunt honesty. At the time, Haru had been far too scared to consider it, and had just fallen back into the habitual following around of Yuki. Frustration over the whole mess had caused him to go Black in Kyo's presence more than once, though Haru had a sneaking suspicion it had less to do with anger and more to do with a subconscious wish to press himself against Kyo's sexy body.  
Yuki had been at first amused, then tolerant, then annoyed, and had finally lost all patience two days ago. He'd delivered an ultimatum that if Haru did not tell Kyo of his feelings before the week was out, he would drug the gray-eyed boy and drag him to a tattoo parlor. Haru would then become the proud owner of a Hello Kitty tattoo, complete with little pink tutu.  
Haru, who had an unreasoning fear of Hello Kitty, had capitulated instantly.  
So now there he was, walking up the path to Shigure's house on a Saturday morning, trying his best to keep his nerve long enough to see this through. He checked his watch, finding it to be about ten, and sighed. He had purposely left the main house at what Momiji affectionately called 'zap- squee' in the morning, because he knew that if he left it until later in the day, his courage would flee and the only way to get himself to go at that point would be by going Black.  
Haru did not want to think about how a confession made while Black would progress. Especially since Kyo's knee-jerk reaction would be anger and rejection until he calmed down enough to think rationally. Could we say "Event Horizon"?  
And Haru would have been at Shigure's even earlier, if he hadn't gotten lost. He glared absently at his watch for a few more moments, and then mentally kicked himself for stalling. Taking another deep breath, he walked the rest of the way to the door and knocked.  
Tohru answered, her brown eyes sparkling as she smiled in welcome. "Ohayo, Haru-kun! What brings you here today?"  
Haru couldn't help but smile at the good-natured girl. She just had this aura of comfort around her, and you couldn't help but be at ease when she was near. Even his nerves receded a little. "Ohayo. I was wondering if I could see Kyo? I need to talk with him about something."  
Tohru nodded and let him in, leading him through the front room to the stairs. "Kyo-kun's not awake yet. He's sleeping in this morning, but he shouldn't mind being awakened too much if it's important."  
Haru noticed Yuki sitting at the table in the other room, and the Look his older cousin gave him spoke many threats of sickeningly over-cute cartoon kitties. "Trust me, it's important," the ox assured her.  
Tohru smiled again. "Okay. Wait here, and I'll go get him." she said, and Haru nodded, touched by her tactful allowance for his own abysmal sense of direction. He watched her vanish up the stairs, absently admiring the way her skirt showed off her slender legs.  
Hey, he may have been in love with Kyo, but that didn't stop him from admiring where admiration was due! Though he had to admit, he found the thought of Kyo's legs to be much more attractive. He'd seen the cat in shorts before, and those legs had been strong and tanned, so slender and elegant in build, and so long as seeming to go on forever. And the skin had looked so soft, leading Haru to wonder how it would feel under his hands...  
Tohru's quiet reappearance snapped him out of his reverie, and he glanced up at her as she walked down the stairs. Almost instantly, he knew something was wrong. Tohru was pale, her eyes shimmering with what had to be suppressed tears, and her expression was set in the way that meant she was doing her best not to show just how upset she was. In her hands she was clutching a piece of paper. Kyo was not with her.  
"Tohru-san?" It seemed Yuki had noticed too, the silver-haired boy walking up from behind Haru to tentatively touch her shoulder. "What's the matter? Is something wrong with Kyo?"  
Tohru's face crumpled, and Haru knew something bad had just happened. The girl couldn't seem to get her voice to work, so she just quietly handed over the piece of paper she had been holding to Yuki, who unfolded it and began to read. Curious, Haru leaned over his cousin's shoulder to see what it was.  
His gray eyes widened in shock and disbelief. It was a letter to Tohru from Kyo, telling of an impossible bet with Akito, a horrible penalty for failure, and an apology for the cat's last recourse of action.  
Kyo was gone, and he was never coming back.  
  
To say that Akito was peeved at finding out that Kyo had run away was like saying that Mt. Vesuvius had sputtered a little bit during the Roman Era. He was so pissed off that he had a temper tantrum of epic proportions, and Hatori had thrown all sense of decorum to the winds and hidden in a closet until it was over, for fear of losing his other eye. By the time the Kami of the Sohma clan had calmed down enough to speak without frothing at the mouth, the room was in complete disarray and everything that could be broken, had been. And Akito stood in the center of it all, once more seemingly calm and dignified, and ordered in a tone that would not be disobeyed that Kyo was to be found and brought back immediately.  
How the young clan head seethed inside, however! He _hated_ that disgusting creature that dared to call itself a Sohma! Even more, he hated how it thought it could just shrug off his orders to run away! Akito would not tolerate such insolence!  
Shigure saw it all in the half-mad gunmetal gray eyes, along with a certain homicidal glint that urged him to quickly agree and leave, taking Yuki, Tohru, Haru, and Momiji with him. He was very glad that Hiro and Kisa were away on a class trip right now.  
  
Two days later, Shigure wished he hadn't been so quick to agree to search for Kyo.  
"I don't see why I have to do this!" Shigure complained, pouting as he stood on the edge of the road just outside the city.  
Yuki sighed and kept hold of his temper with no little effort. He was hot, tired, and getting a headache from the stress. Knowing that Shigure fared little better did not noticeably lessen his annoyance. "Because you're the one with the sharpest nose, Shigure. People saw Kyo leave the city in this direction, but now we're in an area where there just aren't that many people. We're going to have to go by scent trails, since Akito refuses to involve anyone outside the Sohma family."  
"And that means we need a bloodhound!" Momiji caroled, the only one who looked even remotely cheerful.  
"I'm not a bloodhound!" Shigure protested, "I'm a Labrador retriever!"  
_Lazy bastard_, Yuki thought to himself. "A retriever, are you? Fine. Then do your job and retrieve Kyo!" he snarled.  
"Oh, Yuki-kun is so grouchy today!" the dog whined.  
"I get that way when forced out into the middle of nowhere to look for that damned cat." Yuki muttered, crossing his arms and looking away. Though to be painfully honest, the Sohma mouse was really of two minds about finding Kyo. While Yuki was afraid of Akito and what he would do if Kyo wasn't found, the silver-haired boy could understand why Kyo had run. _All that time, all those fights, and it was just because he was trying to escape being locked up..._ But he had another reason for wanting to find Kyo. He looked over at Haru, noting the odd glazed quality to his eyes. The ox had been in a sort of daze ever since reading Kyo's letter, and Yuki knew he was hiding heartbreak. If nothing else, Kyo needed to be brought back to hear Haru out.  
"Please, Shigure-san?" Tohru asked of the older Sohma, looking at him pleadingly with those large guileless brown eyes. "You're the only one who can do this!"  
Shigure looked at her helplessly. How was he supposed to refuse something like that? He looked around pleadingly one last time, but found little in the way of help. Yuki was glaring at him, Momiji was beaming, and Haru was...well, Haru had been in an odd state of shock ever since Kyo had turned up missing. He sighed in defeat. "Hai, hai. Mind giving me a bit of help, Tohru-chan?"  
Tohru smiled brightly. "Of course! I'll do my best!"  
Shigure beamed back. "Wonderful!" With that, he glomped her, the sound of her startled squeak drowned out by the small explosion of colored smoke that always heralded a juunishi's transformation into its animal form. When the smoke cleared, a black dog sat, wagging his tail and looking far too pleased with himself. "Ahh, all is now right with my world..." Shigure sighed happily.  
Yuki whacked him. "Baka inu," he muttered, then helped Tohru to stand.  
Shigure just gave a bark of laughter before putting his nose to the ground and beginning to search for the scent of their missing cousin. He found it fairly quickly, and started to follow it, forgetting about the others as his attention fixed on the trail. In fact, he got so wrapped up in following it that he never noticed when it veered off the road and down the hill to a large field of long grass.  
Momiji gazed out at the field and tilted his head. "Kyo-kun went off the road?"  
"Hai," Shigure murmured distractedly as he entered the grass, the others not far behind. "He definitely went this way, and—EEEEEEUUUUGH!!!"  
"Shigure-san! Daijobu ka?!" Tohru asked.  
"Cow pasture!" the dog whined. "Oh, my poor sinuses..."  
There was silence, broken only by Momiji's muffled giggles. Then Haru seemed to break out of his self-induced trance long enough to glance around and raise an eyebrow. "It seems Kyo wanted to hide his trail. I guess he figured that we'd try this."  
"I'm kind of surprised," Tohru murmured, nibbling on her lower lip. "Kyo-kun's usually so finicky about being clean."  
Yuki shrugged. "I guess he thought the risk of encountering cow dung was worth escaping Akito."  
"Your animal really smells, Haru," Momiji said, still giggling over Shigure's misfortune.  
Haru rolled his eyes. "I am an ox. Not a cow. Just because most consider them to be the same animal..."  
"Sure. Just keep telling yourself that!"  
"Doesn't anyone care about me?" Shigure whined. "Oh, my poor, poor nose..."  
Yuki glared at his older cousin. "Suck it up, you stupid mutt. Can you still find Kyo's trail?"  
Shigure whined, but nodded his doggy head.  
"Good. Keep following it."  
"You're such a slave-driver, Yuki," the dog complained, but forced himself to continue. It took a long while and much complaining and stepping in disgusting things better left unnamed, but the scent trail finally led them out of the field and down yet another hill into a forested area surrounding a small village.  
"Finally, no more cow poop!" Shigure cried with relief. "Now we're back to grass and mud and—UUUUUUGH!!!"  
The others didn't have to ask what the problem was, this time. They could all smell it. The forested area was a swamp, with all the odors it implied. Shigure whined again, but one Glare of Death from Yuki pushed him onward. They walked down the trail, Shigure cataloguing the scents he found, obviously trying to garner sympathy and reprieve.  
"Mud...animal droppings...stagnant water...rotting plants..."  
"Oh, shut up." Yuki muttered.  
"Anou...has anyone seen Momiji-kun?" Tohru asked.  
"Huh? Now where did he go...?"  
"_More_ animal droppings...garbage...dead squirrel..."  
"I hope he's okay," Tohru sniffled, then grimaced and regretted breathing too deeply through her nose.  
Haru patted her shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. He can't have gone far."  
"He's right, Honda-san. There just hasn't been enough time for Momiji to get himself into trouble." Yuki said, his tone reassuring.  
"Demo..."  
"More stagnant water...rotting fish...bog monster..."  
The three teenagers turned to stare at the black dog. "Bog monster?" Yuki asked, his tone sarcastic.  
Shigure looked up at him, tired and frazzled. "Well, what do you call that?"  
"EEEAAARRRGGHH!!!" A hideous form suddenly rose from the muck, covered with mud and rotting vegetation. It shambled disgustingly towards them, extending what might have been arms.  
"YIIIIEEEEE!!!"  
"Run away!!!"  
"I never knew you screamed like a girl, Yuki..."  
  
"Shut up and run, Haru!"  
"Guys, it's just meeeeee!" the bog monster wailed, then started laughing at the looks on their faces.  
"MOMIJI!!!"  
  
Two hours later, the five stumbled out of the swamp and into the little town beyond it, exhausted, spattered with mud, and completely without a trail to follow. It seemed that Kyo had decided to get rid of the scent trail by swimming straight through the swamp, which had most likely made him even more unrecognizable that Momiji currently was.  
Shigure sighed, looking mournfully at the mud spattered on his kimono. He'd turned back into a human somewhere halfway through, and since he had already lost what little trail there had been, he'd been allowed to get dressed again. Still, it hadn't saved his clothes, and he really wanted a bath.  
Tohru made one last attempt at finding Kyo, and walked up to a policeman standing on the corner while Yuki and Haru followed close behind.  
"Excuse me," she said, "But have you seen a young man of about our age? He's got bright orange hair and was probably carrying a small travel pack."  
The policeman shrugged. "Which twenty?"  
Tohru blinked. "What?"  
"Which twenty? Look around, Miss. This town's a popular destination for tourists from outside the country."  
Tohru's eyes widened, and she looked more closely at the people walking down the streets. Sure enough, most of them were gaijin, and several were redheads.  
"He'd have been covered in swamp muck, rather like our little friend over there." Haru said, pointing a thumb at Momiji, who grinned unrepentantly.  
The policeman sighed. "Which eight? A lot of the tourists seem to think it's their sworn duty to wander into the swamp while they're here. Then they come back out covered in mud and grinning like maniacs before heading to the bathhouse down the street. I swear, Americans are insane."  
"Bathhouse?! Did I hear the word 'bathhouse'?!" Shigure suddenly squealed.  
Yuki sighed, trying to ignore his headache. "Not as insane as some Japanese..." he muttered.  
"Looks like Kyo-kun's made a clean getaway." Tohru sighed.  
"I don't think cleanliness had anything to do with it, Tohru-san." Haru replied. "Come on. We're all muddy, and Momiji's starting to smell."  
  
When Akito learned that Kyo had managed to get away, his resulting fit was so fierce that Hatori gave up on the closet and just took everyone out of the main house for several hours. Shigure didn't mind, since it meant he had someone to complain to about how his sinuses hurt so much that he couldn't smell anything anymore.

Does everyone like? looks around and sweatdrops at the sound of chirping crickets Okay, I'll go back to Kyo next chapter. He's gonna buy a waterbra!


	4. Shopping

**Okay! Part three! Shopping for falsies! Just a note, I have NO idea what really goes into the buying and care of a water bra. I'm guessing here. Please don't send me messages complaining if I got things wrong.**

Kyo peered suspiciously into the dim enterance of the specialty shop, still trying to work up the determination to actually step inside. His red eyes scanned the walls of clothing, feather boas, and various sex toys, half-expecting for little perversion gremlins to jump from the shelves in an ambush and turn him into some sort of hentai, like a certain stupid dog he knew back home. He knew this was a totally irrational fear. After all, perversion gremlins didn't ambush so much as slowly infect and subvert. But shops like this was where they bred and dwelled, lying in wait for some poor unsuspecting sod to become a host, and then they would take over that person's home, friends, and entire lifestyle, spreading like a sex-crazed sort of cancer...

Kyo banged his head against the doorframe. _Focus, idiot. You're here to get a fucking water bra, not turn into a degenerate hentai version of Frankenstein._ He took a deep breath and stepped inside, trying to reason with himself that tons of people visited stores like this every day, and most of them were perfectly sane.

That led to a mental image of Tohru wandering around the bondage section, and Kyo had to resist banging his head against the wall again. He loved Tohru dearly in his own way, but there were some realities to life that he just didn't want to equate her with. It'd just fry his brain more than the strap-on hanging from the ceiling was already threatening to do.

_Water bra...water bra...just focus on the goal, and ignore everything else in here..._ Kyo lowered his eyes and wandered farther into the store, glad for once that his hair was sliding into his eyes and making it harder to see. It had grown quickly over the past month, and already tended to hang in his eyes, no matter what he did with it. It was still far too short to be considered anything but boyish, but it was a start. And it helped him when he just sat somewhere and studied the women that passed by. After all, if no one could see his eyes, they couldn't accuse him of staring like some sort of lecher, and he could study the opposite sex in preparation for disguising himself as one of them. Reading magazines and books only did so much, after all.

And Uo had been right. Teen girls' magazines really didn't make any sense. At least, not to anyone who had any common sense.

Kyo shook his head, realizing he had gotten off track again. He was embarrassed to even be inside the store, let alone looking for something to buy, but he still had to do it. He didn't want to start looking for more feminine clothes or accessories until he actually _looked_ like a girl, and that meant having a certain frontal extension. He brushed his overlong bangs back from his face and looked up, searching for water bras.

Five minutes later, the clerk behind the counter heard a horrified shriek from the back and came running to see what the matter was. He found Kyo cowering against one of the displays and staring in abject terror at the selection of bras on the wall. Having expected to see something scary, like a dead body amidst the feather boas, the clerk could only give the redheaded teen a perplexed look. "Er...is there a problem, sir?"

"The knockers! The horrible knockers!" Kyo yelped, his eyes fixed on one set in particular. "Godzilla's been cross dressing!!!"

The clerk looked over and rolled his eyes, keeping in his snort of laughter with much effort. Newbies were always so damn skittish. "Aw, relax. Those just happen to be the most popular line."

"But they're _huge_! How does anyone walk with those on?!"

The clerk shrugged. "Carefully. Don't worry, kid. Those are for someone at least a foot taller than you."

Kyo scowled, his eyes sliding from the gigantic water bra that would likely haunt his nightmares for years to come and settling on the store attendant. "Whatever. Then what _should_ I wear?" he snarled, finding security in anger as always.

The clerk looked back at the display, used to a certain amount of hostility from people shopping for the first time. He led Kyo down the aisle a little ways to where the sizes were smaller and more realistic. "These would be better for someone of your build. We've got them in three cup sizes, too. 'Plain Jane', 'Sexy Momma', and 'Porn Star'."

Kyo gave the clerk a _look_, to which he just held up his hands in defense.

"Hey, I don't make up these names. Anyway, with your build, you should be able to carry off the latter two choices. Nice shoulders, good hips, sweet little rear..."

Kyo hissed, his hackles rising. "Eyes and hands off, pal!"

The clerk shrugged. "No fear, pal. I'm hetero. But in this job, you gotta know how to, you know, _grade_ people. Otherwise, they just look stupid."

Kyo sulked, not wanting to admit that the man had a point. He was still trying to dredge up the last remaining tatters of his dignity as it was.

"So, you want to try those two sizes on?"

"Yes," the Cat muttered, trying not to grind his teeth. Temper tantrums would just draw attention, especially in a place like this.

"Okay!" The clerk took down two water bras and handed them to Kyo, who tried to ignore their black lacy existence. "Dressing room C is right over there. Try them on and call if you need help." He gave a small leer. "Either me or Bruno will come running, believe you me!"

"I thought you were straight!"

"Yeah, but I'm also not blind."

Kyo could see Bruno back at the front behind the desk. Big, hairy, and overweight. Kyo repressed a shudder and the sudden urge to yowl in disgust like the angry feline he was. of Death... Instead of risking incident by opening his mouth, he just turned and stormed into the dressing room.

He removed his shirt and pulled on the Porn Star size, making an instant decision that this wasn't going to be the one he chose. Not only was it massively uncomfortable and chafed like mad, but he couldn't even dredge up the courage to look at himself in the mirror. He felt mildly shamed that an object made of lace and plastic could strike terror in his heart to an extent that not even a rampaging Kagura had succeeded.

Ditching it, he tried on the Sexy Momma size. That was better. It wasn't nearly so heavy, which led to less chafing and a more comfortable fit. He still wanted to ask if there was a version that didn't involve black lace, but at least he was able to persuade himself to look at his reflection, pulling on his shirt first for added realism.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the mirror.

Deep, utter silence...

"NOOOOOOO!!!!"

The clerk came running. "What?! What?! Did the walls fall in on you or something?!"

Kyo continued to wail. "I make a better girl than Yuuuuukiiiiii!!!! WAAAAAAAH!!!" he howled, and went back to his emotional breakdown, the few shredded remains of his masculine pride blown away to the four winds as if a hurricane had passed through.

The clerk blinked, then sighed and shook his head and walked back to the front counter. "Hey Bruno? Don't go near the guy in dressing room C, okay? He's having a...delicate moment."

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

Eventually, Kyo calmed down enough to take the water bra off and come out of the dressing room, shaken but otherwise intact. _Okay,_ he considered, _what would be worse? Being locked away in a hole somewhere by Akito for the rest of my life, or wearing that thing in public? Hole...public...hole...public... Can I get a second opinion on this? No! I don't want anyone to see me like this! _Especially_ not anyone who knows me!_

The vanity of his cat side poked at him.

_But then again...I _did_ make a better girl than Yuki...WHAT AM I THINKING?!_

The cat inside him purred smugly.

_I hate that side of myself, sometimes..._

The cat within radiated smugness.

Kyo was tempted to bang his head against the wall again, but settled for just approaching the counter. _I've gotta go through with this. The farther I step away from what my family _thinks_ I'd do, the harder it'll be for them to find me._

The clerk looked up as he approached and grinned. "So, you gonna get that?"

Kyo closed his eyes and nodded.

"In a bag, or would you rather wear it out of here?"

Kyo grit his teeth and briefly struggled between embarrassment and practicality. "To wear," he finally growled. "I'm going to have to get used to the extra weight. How long does it take before I get used to it enough that I actually look like a woman instead of just some guy wearing water balloons on his chest?"

The clerk tilted his head, considering. "Lessee...it depends on a person's own natural grace. But I'd say...oh, wear it 24/7 for a few weeks, except for sleeping or showering. By then, you'll at least have accustomed yourself enough to it to be convincing. Cleaning instructions for the bra are on the back."

Kyo nodded, then thought of something that he'd picked up in a fashion magazine. Black bras didn't go with everything, especially white tops. "Do you have this thing in other colors? And not so...lacy?"

"Oh, sure! Come on, I'll show you the racks!"

After an embarrassing few minutes, Kyo had managed to find a couple of pairs in both black and white that didn't look like Victoria's Secret rejects. He put on one of the black ones, and paid the attendant, then grit his teeth and slunk out into the street, hoping that no one would notice. He hoped in vain, but the worst he got was a lot of giggles. Especially from women, he noticed.

He got one tiny sliver of satisfaction from the fact that the money he had used to buy the bras had come from the cashbox he'd looted back home. He had a feeling that if Akito ever found out he'd indirectly funded Kyo becoming a transvestite, he'd probably have apoplexy on the spot. He grinned at the thought.

_I wonder if I could send him a postcard...no! Need to get to Hokkaido. _He glanced down at his prosthetic front. _What's with this thing? It's making me a sardonic bitch! Hey, it really works! This might not be such a bad idea after all!_

Emboldened, Kyo stopped at a few other stores and bought some basic makeup supplies and a few blouses and skirts, paying careful attention to style, fashion, and his coloration. The magazine articles he'd read had been very firm about not choosing colors that mixed badly with his natural skin or hair colors. He didn't get anything really fancy, since he still had a lot of traveling to do and he wanted an actual female to help him with the actual details. He figured he'd fill out his wardrobe and accessories once he'd gotten to Hokkaido and met Uo's friend and could get real feminine feedback.

Somewhere between the lipstick and the pleated skirt, he realized he was having fun. It was a bit of a shock.

He decided not to buy shoes. That would have been the last straw.


	5. Arrival

I'm so sorry that this took so long! School plus a sudden obsession with playing Xenogears does not leave much time for writing, but I finally got this out! I'll try to take less time with the next chapter, but no promises. College teachers seem to think students have no life beyond homework.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone that reviewed so far. I know I haven't said anything about it, but I really appreciate everyone taking the time to leave their comments. Knowing people like my work is what keeps me writing! Also, I'll be posting the first chapters to a Xenogears story soon, so anyone who is interested, please read it!

Chapter 4: Arrival

Hatsuharu breathed a sigh of immense relief as Shigure's house came into view through the trees. The zodiac Ox had been looking for Kyo for the past week. Of course, what this really meant was that he had gotten himself completely lost within the first hour, and spent the entire time both wandering around aimlessly and stopping random people on the street to ask if they'd seen anyone like Kyo. Mostly the people had looked at him funny and said that they had seen no one who looked anything like the Cat, and who'd ever heard of a boy with red eyes anyway? Had Haru loved Kyo any less than he did, he would have given up at that point. But the Ox had continued to persevere, both because he was beyond worried for his cousin and because if he didn't keep wandering, he'd probably never find his way home!

Admittedly, Shigure's house wasn't really 'home', but it was close enough for what Haru desperately needed at that moment. While the week had been, in his opinion, spent productively, it had also been a week in which he had not been able to shower. While he wasn't quite so militantly fastidious as Kyo, Yuki or Hatori, he still felt pretty disgusting by that point. Plus, he was pretty sure that if he didn't wash it soon, his hair was going to somehow develop psychokinetic powers and destroy Tokyo.

And he could hardly blame Tohru when she stared at his appearance in shock once she'd replied to his knock. "Ummm...shower and a change of clothes, Haru-san?" she offered, and Haru only barely held himself back from kissing her senseless. Next time he walked past a temple, he was nominating that girl for sainthood! Outwardly, he just smiled wearily and gave a grateful nod, walking in when she stepped aside.

Haru noticed that she looked tired. She'd probably been losing sleep over worry for Kyo. Again, the Ox couldn't blame her.

When he walked into the main room, he found Yuki reading at the table. "Yo," he greeted quietly, but was startled when the Rat actually looked mildly upset at seeing him. Yuki's next words confused him even more.

"Oh, crap! Tohru-san, get him upstairs before Shigure sees him, or that baka inu will start up again!" the Rat squeaked—squeaked!—and gazed around nervously.

Tohru looked momentarily horrified. "Gomen, Yuki-kun!!! I'll do that right now!" And much to Haru's further puzzlement, she began actively shoving him towards the stairs.

"Huh? Tohru, what's going on?!" Haru yelped, turning his head to gaze back at her.

"No time! We need to get you out of sight before—"

"COW!!!" suddenly barked Shigure's voice, his form appearing in the garden doorway.

"Too late," Yuki groaned, burying his face in his hands.

Haru was about to protest once again that he was an _ox_, not a cow, but Shigure cut him off.

"Damn all cows! And swamps! My sinuses _still_ hurt from that insane excursion! I can hardly smell anything but really strong mints!" the older man howled. "But do I get any sympathy? Noooooo!"

"Uh, Shigure?" Haru ventured, but Shigure didn't seem to hear him, continuing his rant.

"And then there's Akito, constantly pushing to keep searching even though it's obvious Kyo's long gone! Rrrrgh, _why_ did his part of the curse have to manifest as obsessive and violent schizophrenia?! _WHY_ couldn't he have been catatonic or have multiple personalities?! Hells, I would even have been able to deal with Turret's Syndrome!!!"

Tohru blinked and turned to Yuki. "Yuki-kun," she whispered, "what's Turret's Syndrome?"

"Sudden uncontrollable bouts of swearing." Yuki replied with a sigh.

"WHICH I'M ABOUT TO HAVE A CASE OF RIGHT NOW!!!" Shigure thundered, and stomped into the kitchen, still muttering.

Haru blinked and turned to Yuki and Tohru. "Well, that was surprising. Why is he still whining about his nose? Kyo's already been gone for almost three months."

Yuki looked put out, his violet eyes flashing with annoyance. "He just likes to whine. Usually he doesn't bother, but if anyone says or does anything that relates back to swamps or cows, he goes into a full rant. The man's more of a drama queen than my idiot brother, sometimes."

Haru just shook his head and headed upstairs to shower, contemplating the insanities of his relatives. But foremost on his mind was a certain Cat, and he hoped that wherever Kyo was, he was okay.

00ooo00

Kyo did his absolute best to hold back his temper. He'd finally reached Hokkaido, but found that getting directions to an address was almost impossible. Sure, finding the gaijin district had bean easy enough once he asked people—"Oh, you want the area where the _whackos_ live!"—but the area of the neighborhood was built like a maze, and Kyo had gotten lost easily.

The Cat swore he would never make fun of Haru's lack of directional sense ever again after this.

So he'd made a typical tourist's mistake and asked a resident for directions. _That_ had sent him on another long and winding trek, through areas he didn't think he could name. It didn't help that he was dressed as a woman, having finally gotten comfortable enough with the water bra that he could carry it off convincingly.

He'd gotten the insane idea somewhere that if he was going to be living in Hokkaido, he'd better look like a girl from the start. So he'd brushed his now shoulder-length hair, put on a dark blue blouse and matching skirt, and put on a small amount of lipstick and eyeliner. The outfit didn't match too well with his battered sneakers, but there was nothing to be done about that at the moment. He was immensely thankful that his body hair was naturally very fine—almost invisible against his pale gold skin—and thus he wouldn't have to deal with the ordeal of leg shaving. He'd read about it in the magazines and listened to women complain about it in bars, and it didn't sound like any sort of thing he'd be willing to put up with. The Cat was beginning to suspect that all women were masochistic, considering some of the things they did to look pretty.

So not only was he dealing with whistles and gazes from strangers, but he was decidedly ill-dressed for traipsing through areas that involved a lot of hiking and climbing.

Why had the directions included climbing that big oak tree in the park, anyway?! And _why_ had he actually bothered to climb it?!

The cat spirit within him purred. Oh, right. He was part cat. Cats looooved trees. Cats didn't care about getting wrinkles in skirts. Neither did Kyo, really, but he at least had to make the _appearance_ of caring, especially since he did all his own laundry.

Considering all that, it was no wonder that the redhead was rather short-tempered by the time he reached the apartment of Uo's friend Bess.

Bess lived in an apartment building in the cheaper side of town. The building itself was old, but at least it was fairly clean and in good repair. The halls had been painted white at some point, but time had turned them a sort of dingy gray that no amount of soap could brighten. The carpet was hideously ugly, a checkerboard pattern of green and red, but it was at least clear of any sort of debris or odors. There was no elevator, much to the tired Cat's chagrin, so he had to walk up the seven flights of steps to her apartment.

"Seventh floor...apartment of Floppy Willow Boulevard. Who the fuck named these streets, anyway? Gaijin are nuts..." Kyo muttered, reading the slip of paper in his hands. He walked down the hall, stopping at the door with the number 728 painted on it and a plain brass knocker. At least, as plain as a brass knocker that made faces at you could be. Kyo wondered if Uo was getting back at him for something. Taking a deep breath, he knocked.

There was the sound of a thump and a clang, followed by a loud and cheerful voice. "Hold on! I've just gotta get my foot out of the waste basket!"

Kyo sweatdropped and wondered if it would just be better to run away as fast as he could.

More thumps, another clang, and something that sounded oddly like the popping off of a cork from a wine bottle. Then footsteps approached the door, and it opened.

The woman in the doorway was a few inches taller than Kyo, perhaps in her early to mid-twenties, and pretty in a plain sort of way. She was slender, with a round face that looked like it held more smiles than frowns. She was wearing faded jeans and a T shirt that read "Honorary human". Brown hair was tied back with a blue bandanna, and sharply intelligent dark eyes took in every detail of Kyo's appearance.

"Oh, _baby_," she purred, her grin taking on a flirtatious cast that made Kyo very nervous. "What's a hot little number like you doing here? It's not my birthday..."

"Hands and eyes off." Kyo growled, his voice still more masculine than feminine. He really hadn't been able to do much about that without having someone for feedback.

Bess looked startled and slightly disappointed, then suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh, you're Kyo, aren't you? You're late."

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I was walking, and I was doing the whole fucking sex-change thing on the way. I didn't want anyone to see me until the act was believable."

Bess grinned. "Well, you've done a great job so far. You even fooled me for a moment, and I know what to look for! Now c'mon. Get your tail in here and take a load off." She stepped aside to grant the tired redhead entrance.

Kyo stepped inside, looking around curiously. The place was, to put it mildly, a bit of a mess. Bess was one of those people who seemed to thrive on clutter, and it spilled over her shelves and down to her furniture and across the floor. Herds of dust rhinos thundered across the floor in the background. The Cat grimaced. "Tell me we're not sharing the apartment," he said. If he was going to be stuck living here, he wasn't going to be responsible for what happened when his Clean mood took over.

Bess snorted. "Naw, don't be silly! _This_ closet? Besides, Uo told me you weren't comfortable living with women, and I find living with guys too silly to imagine. You get the apartment next door. I leased it out for you. You owe me a month's rent, by the way. It's unfurnished, that's what keeps this building cheap, but it's weathertight and there's a discount furniture store down the street. Can I get you something to drink?"

Kyo flopped down on the couch—or what he _thought_ might have been the couch before the clutter bunnies had turned it into a breeding colony—and shrugged. "What do you have?"

"Oh, I've got water, some soda, orange juice, some milk..."

"Milk sounds good."

Bess nodded and pulled the carton from the refrigerator, proving that there was a tiny kitchenette under the mountains of Stuff. She put it on the counter and walked over to a cabinet to get a glass, but stopped when Kyo just reached over, grabbed the carton, and drank it dry. She raised an eyebrow as Kyo licked his lips and looked smug. "You sure you weren't a cat in a past life or something?"

"Not a past life, no." Kyo replied, thinking about the curse on his family.

"Coulda fooled me. Ah, well. The discount furniture store's open late today. Wanna head down once you've rested a little?"

Kyo nodded. "I don't think I want to sleep on the floor. By the way, is the carpet in the apartments as ugly as the hall? I can't see yours." He kicked at a random Godzilla bobblehead figure.

"What carpeting? When I said unfurnished, I meant unfurnished! That upholsterer's drug dream out in the hall is someone else's fault. Every day, I go out and spill something on it, just to dull the glare."

"Doesn't seem to work. That thing looked spotless."

"I blame the pixies."

Kyo stared at her and wondered just what Uo had sent him to.

00ooo00

The Happy Clutter didn't sell high-class furniture, but it was cheap and well-made, so far as Kyo could tell. There was also a surprising variety, catering to both American and Japanese styles. Kyo was a simplistic person by nature, really only needing the basics, namely a low Japanese-style table, some cushions, and a futon, but the moment he saw the giant basket chair, the 'papasan', as the tag named it, he was hooked. Bess, who had been pointing out various things and had her back turned, found him sprawled in the thing, purring softly and looking all the world like a sunning feline.

"Kyo, that's a window display. I admit, you're drawing a crowd, since people like to see attractive women sprawled over things as a matter of course, but the supervisor has a rotten temper, and if he catches you up there, we'll be tossed out."

"I could take him." Kyo answered, his voice slightly dreamy from the effects of the warm sun.

"I don't know about that. He's four hundred pounds and can bench press twice his weight." She grabbed the redhead's arm and dragged him from the chair. "C'mon, out. We can buy you one on the way out, but you need a real place to sleep. Those things just aren't good sleeping places. I remember one time I slept in one, and couldn't stand straight for days. Made my job a living hell, that's for sure."

Kyo blinked. "What do you do?"

"I work at a crappy night club. _The_ Crappy Nightclub." she said, grinning. "When you're on stage, no one wants to see you shuffle around like Quasimodo."

"Quasi-who?"

"Never mind. Go choose your furniture." She gave him a slap on the rear to get him going, which earned her an annoyed yowl and an affronted glare.

Half an hour later, Kyo had arranged for the delivery of a table, a futon, several cushions, and a papasan. Then Bess dragged Kyo into the store next door, a tiny shop that sold household items including sheets, blankets, dishes, and toiletries. Kyo stocked up, glad that these were discount stores. He may have raided Akito's cash box, but after he paid back Bess for rent on his apartment, he was probably only going to have enough to keep him for another two months. Just enough time to completely perfect his image of femininity with Bess's help before looking for work.

However, after dinner at a local restaurant, all Kyo bothered to think about was moving his new furniture into the tiny bare apartment that was now his own and making his bed. He was tired and looking forward to the first night in three months on something softer than dirt.

He got undressed and washed off the makeup, pulling on an old baggy sleepshirt, and sat down on his futon, taking a moment to stare around his new home. With the urgent needs of his travels no longer occupying all of his thoughts, the full realization of what he'd done and what he was doing began to dawn.

He began to shake, his hands clenching tightly in his new blankets. _Gods...I actually did it. I threw away everything I knew and ran away..._ He'd effectively excommunicated himself from his entire family. After this, he could never go back. Akito wouldn't just lock him up; he'd kill him outright. He'd most likely never see any of them again, nor would he see Tohru or any of the friends he'd had in school. While actually on the run, the magnitude of his actions hadn't really registered on him. But now that he was finally at his destination and it was quiet enough to think, he found himself feeling very frightened and alone. The only one who knew he was here was Uo, and he probably wouldn't dare to contact her any time soon. There was no security in knowing Bess was next door, because he didn't know her beyond being Uo's friend. Trust would come with time, but not now. Now, Kyo just sat in the dark, shaking, and suddenly wishing for anything familiar.

_I never even got to tell Haru I loved him._ That thought lanced through the rest of his delayed fear, making him feel all the more lonely, because there was no way to ever tell him now.

Kyo cried himself to sleep.


End file.
